


Monochrome

by trash_devil



Category: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni | Higurashi When They Cry
Genre: FTM Satoshi, Gen, Panic Attacks, hes trans ok, let me have this, mentions of Keiichi/Satoshi, mentions of abuse, oh chapter titles are HARD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2019-09-15 20:01:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16939758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trash_devil/pseuds/trash_devil
Summary: A Hinamizawa in which Satoshi doesn't disappear.





	1. excuses

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea how long this is gonna be or what I'm doing but  
> here take it
> 
> it will get infinitely more fucked up later though so be warned

The motorcycles toppled over like dominoes, falling one after another until they struck the pavement with a thunderous crash.

Keiichi glanced around. He didn’t see anyone, so if he walked away now, maybe he could pretend like he had nothing to do with it? 

He pivoted on his heel, intending to do exactly that. Only to find himself face-to-face with a gang of ugly bikers.

“Oh. Shit.”

One of them grabbed him by the collar. “Bastard!” they snarled in disturbingly perfect sync. 

“I didn’t mean to!” he gasped. He saw another thug pull his fist back, and closed his eyes tight in preparation for the impact.

“Hey! S-Stop that!” someone called out before the punch could be thrown. 

The voice was high—feminine—and Keiichi almost wished he had been left to the thugs instead. Seriously? Getting saved by a _girl?_ His pride balked at the idea, no matter how scary the girls in this town were.

“Leave him alone!”

“Or what?” the thugs snarled. They moved away from Keiichi to encircle his savior. “Whadd’re ya gonna do ‘bout it?”

“I’ll…! I’ll…”

There was the unmistakable sound of fists hitting flesh, and then of a body crashing into something hard. Keiichi closed his eyes and prayed that this would be over soon. 

“H-Hey… What’s with that face…?”

He reopened one eye to see the gang backing up; caught a glimpse of the terror written across their faces.

“Don’t look at me like that!”

One of them regained his bravado, if only briefly, and spat, “Hope ya learned yer lesson!” before they all turned and fled. 

As soon as they were gone, Keiichi scrambled over to help h-

… Him?

The boy smiled politely at him. “Are you okay?” he asked, as though he wasn’t the one who had just been slammed into the ground.

Keiichi had to take a moment to recover from the shock. Seriously, what the hell was with this guy’s voice? Did puberty skip him over? “I, uh… Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

“Don’t worry; I’m used to it.” Before Keiichi could think of the implications of that statement, he said, “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. What’s your name?

“Keiichi Maebara. My… My family just recently moved here.”

“Nice to meet you, Keiichi. I’m Satoshi Houjou.” He offered his hand. 

“Houjou? Like Satoko?”

A moment of hesitation flickered across his face, interrupting his pleasant smile. “Y-Yeah. I’m her brother.” There was another pause as he toed the ground nervously. “Um. Thanks for taking care of her. She talks about you a lot.”

Keiichi shrugged. “No problem. How come I’ve never met you though?”

“Things are… complicated right now. And I’ve been sick.” He glanced away, as if ashamed. “I’ll be… back at school tomorrow, hopefully.” He took a deep breath and looked back up at Keiichi.

Keiichi was struck by the color of his eyes. Humans weren’t supposed to have red eyes. And yet his, just like Satoko’s, were impossibly, undeniably red. Like old blood or dulled rubies or…

“Don’t kick over any more bikes, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Keiichi reached out his hand as Satoshi turned in some vain attempt to stop him. He wanted to make sure.

Red, yes, that he could believe. But had they truly been that lifeless?


	2. concern

The next day, there was a second pair of shoes next to Satoko’s at school. Keiichi had a funny feeling he knew who they belonged to.

Sure enough, when he stepped into the classroom, Satoshi was there.

“Feeling better?” he asked, his hand landing on Satoshi’s shoulder.

Satoshi had to resist the urge to leap back. “Um. Yeah. Thanks.” 

Satoko squeezed his hand. “Don’t sneak up on Nii-nii like that,” she chastised. 

“It’s okay, Satoko…”

Keiichi shook his head. “No, she’s right. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Muu… Was it really that obvious?”

“A little bit.” His gaze flicked from Satoko’s face to Satoshi’s. 

So he had seen correctly yesterday. Satoko’s eyes were alight with life, glimmering with emotion, with worry for her brother, with hope for a better future. Satoshi’s were as dull as pebbles.

He wanted to say something. He wanted to break the heavy silence that had so suddenly settled over the room, but this time there were no magic words ready on his tongue.

It was Mion that finally spoke up. “So, you two already know each other?” she said, slamming her hands on the desk and making the all jump. She flashed a mischievous grin. “Have you kids been meetin’ up at some secret rendezvous?”

Keiichi reddened. “W-What’s that supposed to mean?” he stammered, although he was sure he knew exactly what she meant.

She laughed, “Be careful, Kei-chan! Shion won’t let Satoshi go that easily!”

“I’m not into guys!”

“Some guys are into you,” Satoshi said. His mouth twitched into some semblance of a smile.

Keiichi stared at him. “What? Do you-... Are you-... Satoshi!?”

“I was just saying.”

“No, no, no, you can’t just breeze past that! Explain!”

“Mion and I were just messing…” he said sheepishly. 

Mion pouted. “Awh, why couldn’t you have kept playin’ along, Satoshi? It was funny.”

Rena laughed, “That’s cuz he’s not as mean as you, Mii-chan.”

“I’m not mean!” she protested. “Are you sure you’re not talking about Shion?”

Shion spoke up, “She definitely means you.” She smiled demurely. “ _I’m_ the sweet twin.”

“You’re both mean,” Keiichi huffed, Satoshi’s comment forgotten. “No, wait, all you girls are demons…”

Mion whipped around to face him. “Oh, is that a challenge?”

He shrunk back from her eager grin. “N-No way!”

 

The hours until lunch passed quickly (just like the notes they passed to each other in class). When the bell rang, they all shoved their desks together to form a table.

Well, all of them except Satoshi, who stood and started toward the door.

“Where are you going?” Mion asked.

“... You know I prefer to eat by myself,” he muttered. He couldn’t meet her gaze, so he stepped into the hall without looking back.

Keiichi frowned as he watched him leave. “Did… Did he even have a lunch?” he asked slowly. 

Mion and Shion looked at each other. “Did he?” one said - it was hard to tell which - as the other said, “Has he ever?” at the same time.

“I didn’t see any,” Rena said quietly. “Satoko?”

Satoko flinched and turned toward Rika for reassurance.

Rika met her desperation with her usual calm. “It’s okay, Satoko,” she said softly, “You can tell them.”

She swallowed and nodded. She faltered a little as she spoke, “Nii-nii isn’t… very good at looking after himself. I always had to cook for him, so… So since I’m not there anymore, maybe he doesn’t…”

Shion shook her head. “Don’t blame yourself.”

“Yeah, even when you lived together he did this,” Mion added. 

Rena stood up suddenly. “So let’s make him lunch tomorrow!”

“I think that’s a great idea!” Keiichi said. “No use just sittin’ around worrying about it!”

“As long as you’re not cooking. We’re not trying to set the whole town on fire,” Satoko said. 

Keiichi blushed, “I-It wasn’t _that_ bad!”

They all laughed. “Oh, it definitely was.”


	3. summoned

The principal stopped to check in on the students while they were having lunch.

Something happened - maybe his foot fell too heavy on the floorboards, or he breathed a certain way, or his voice reached exactly the wrong timbre - and Satoko froze. Her own breaths came short and fast, and her wide red eyes were suddenly as blank as her brother’s.

Rika squeezed her hand, and the other girls formed a protective circle around her. 

Still, she folded in on herself, her rapid breaths turning into soft little sobs. 

Keiichi tried to soothe her, but Shion and Mion held him back. They looked so sad, like they knew something that he didn’t.

Then the door banged open. Satoshi shouldered his way into their little circle and knelt by her side. 

None of them had any idea where he came from; it was like Satoko’s distress had simply summoned him. Like he somehow just knew, even if her crying was almost inaudible 

“It’s okay, Satoko. I’m here. No one is going to hurt you. You’re safe,” he murmured into her ear, cradling her close to his body.

Satoko hiccuped and buried her face in the fabric of his shirt, whispering a string of “I’m sorry”s.

Satoshi rubbed her back, making soft reassuring noises.

Eventually, Satoko pulled back, rubbing the tears away from her eyes. “I’m sor-” she started, but Satoshi shook his head. “... Thank you, Nii-Nii,” she said instead.

He smiled. “No problem, Satoko.” This time, he didn’t leave as they returned to their food.

Mion caught Keiichi’s gaze and pulled him to the side.

“What happened?” he hissed. She could hear the urgency in his voice.

In hushed tones, she replied, “Their aunt and uncle used to abuse them. Satoko lives with Rika now, but it’s not the kind of thing she can just… forget. Sometimes something happens that sends her back to that time, and… You can hardly blame her for freaking out.”

Keiichi glanced at the Houjou siblings. Satoko was smiling and laughing as though nothing had happened. Satoshi watched her with a tired little smile.

If not happy, they at least looked content. It seemed impossible that they had been through such a thing. It seemed impossible that just moments before Satoko was in the middle of a breakdown.

He shook his head free of those thoughts and pulled up a chair next to Satoshi.

“What’s your favorite food?”

He looked at him with an expression of mild surprise. “Muu…? My favorite food?”

“Yeah.”

Satoshi frowned a bit. His fingers tapped against his chin as he thought. “Well… Satoko likes broccoli…”

“What about you?” Keiichi insisted.

“I-I guess I like it too?” His hand drifted back down to the desk. “Why?”

“Just curious.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof it's been kind of a while... things are a lil busy with school and all, but I'm starting to pick up writing again, so hopefully updates will be a bit more consistent


	4. preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we are (hopefully) off hiatus !  
> updates will still be comin slow though cuz. college.

“Aren’t you staying for club?” Keiichi asked.

Satoshi was already halfway out the door. He froze mid-step, looking surprisingly guilty for someone who had done nothing wrong. “Ah, I gotta… get to work…”

“Oh. Where do you work?”

“Um, I’m gonna be late, so, uh, ask later?” It came out more like a question than a command, but by then he had made it outside and onto his battered old bike.

“Okay,” Keiichi answered, because what else could he say?

Satoshi offered him a wavering smile as he left.

 

“So,” Shion said, her voice cleaving through his thoughts, “let’s make lunch.”

They agreed on Rika’s house to cook - no parents, no questions - although the kitchen was a little cramped with all of them packed in there.

Rena did most of the actual cooking, Satoko her half-sized assistant. Mion chopped vegetables, her knifework a blur, and Shion stood by to ensure she didn’t chop a finger off. Rika hurried around with her tiny arms loaded with ingredients as she ferried them around the kitchen.

Keiichi hung back against the wall. The girls wouldn’t let him near the stove, even though he swore that it was just that one incident and he was normally quite competent in the kitchen, thank you very much.

Shion had just laughed at him.

He didn’t dare to try arguing with that laugh.

So he just watched the organized chaos of five people trying to cook one dish. The air filled with their good-natured banter, and he was beginning to feel rather left out when a hand waved frantically in front of his face.

“Oi! Earth to Kei-chan!”

He swatted at the hand. “What!?”

A pile of dirty dishes was shoved unceremoniously into his arms. From the other side of the stack, Mion glared daggers at him.

“Make yourself useful, young’un.”

“We’re the same age!”

 

“Don’t backchat me!” 

From behind her, Shion waved the knife menacingly. 

_(“be careful,” Rika murmured as she pushed her arm back down.)_

“Okay, okay, I’ll do the dishes! Fuck, you don’t gotta threaten me…”

“Threaten you?” Mion asked, one eyebrow raised. 

When she turned, Shion only flashed her a sweet smile and handed the knife back, handle first. “Get choppin’, Sis!”


End file.
